The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was still unsatisfied after organizers of the 68th Venice International Film Festival changed the designation of the origin of a Taiwanese movie, Seediq Bale (賽德克巴萊), from “China, Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” in line with the Olympic model.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said the designation change, which came after Taipei protested to the festival’s organizers, was unsatisfactory.
“We are not satisfied with the change and want it [the film] to be labeled under either the official name of the country — ‘Republic of China’ — or ‘Taiwan,’” he said.
Photo: CNA
Chang said the ministry would continue to negotiate the matter with the Italian government and the organizers of the festival, which opens today.
The designation change was made to the online list of the -festival’s feature films at 2am yesterday morning.
However, on the list of countries represented at the festival, the nation is referred to as Taiwan.
Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), the director of Seediq Bale, left for Italy yesterday to attend the festival.
Seediq Bale has been nominated for the Golden Lion award at the festival.
The movie, shortened to 150 minutes from its original four-plus hours for an international audience, is scheduled to make its world debut at 5pm tomorrow.
Before leaving, Wei addressed the controversy, saying it was better to fight back with action than with words.
“If the main response is simply to protest, then people would have nothing to see,” he said, preferring instead to use his movie to give people an understanding of Taiwan’s history and culture. “The most practical thing to do is to introduce Taiwan to the world. There’s no need to say so much.”
Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s (李安) film Lust, Caution (色戒), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2007, was identified as being from “Taiwan, China,” after efforts by the government to have the designation changed failed because of opposition from Beijing.
Prince of Tears (淚王子), directed by Hong Kong-based Taiwanese director Yon Fan (楊凡) and nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2009 festival, was labeled “China-Taiwan, Hong Kong” and then “Taiwan-Hong Kong, China” following protests by Taipei.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS